Board of Trustees

The Bellevue College Board of Trustees is composed of six members, appointed by the governor. Each member serves a five-year term and must reside within the college’s district boundaries.

The Board’s duties include setting the college’s strategic direction, establishing policy for the college, and approving budgets. Meetings are usually held on Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m., approximately every six weeks during the academic year and are open to the public. For additional information about the Board of Trustees, please contact the President’s Office at Bellevue College, (425) 564-2302.

Members of the Board of Trustees

Steve Miller

Chair

Steve Miller was appointed to the BC Board of Trustees in 2005. He served as Chair for the 2009-10 academic year and Vice Chair for 2008-09 and was reappointed in October 2010.

Career profile: Partner in the Seattle-based firm of Cowan & Miller, which specializes in immigration and naturalization law. Before joining Cowan & Miller in 1990, Steve served as a King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, a Fulbright Fellow Lecturer at the University of Indonesia, an associate for a major Seattle law firm, Deputy Director of the King County Department of Planning and Community Development, and Legal Counsel to the King County Council. An active volunteer in support of education, Steve has served three times as president of the Bellevue School Board and, in 2000, was co-chair of the successful state campaign for Initiative 728, the class size initiative.

Lisa Chin

Vice Chair

Lisa Chin of Bellevue has been appointed to the Bellevue College Board of Trustees by Governor Christine Gregoire. Her five-year term of office continues through September 2016.

Dr. Chin is the founding executive director of Year Up Puget Sound, a one-year education and job training/internship program for young adults. Previously, she served as executive director at Jubilee Women’s Center, Community Birth & Family Center, and Open Arms Perinatal Services in Seattle. She is also a partner in Social Venture Partners, where she served as Board Chair in 2008-09.

Education profile: Dr. Chin received her Ph.D in education from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and her B.A. in political science and art from Wellesley College.

Shelmina Abji

Shelmina Abji was appointed to the BC Board of Trustees in November of 2014. Ms. Abji is an accomplished senior executive in the information technology sector. Prior to her recent tenure as Vice President at IBM Corporation, she ran Mina Technologies, an IBM business partner.

Ms. Abji also serves on the board of Young Women Empowered, a non-profit that focuses on empowering young women from diverse backgrounds to step into leadership roles in their places of work and in the community at large. Born and raised in Tanzania, Africa, she now lives in Bellevue with her husband and two children.

Education profile: B.S. in computer science, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, B.S. in mathematics, first class University of Poona, India.

Merisa Heu-Weller

Merisa Heu-Weller was appointed to the BC Board of Trustees in November 2013 by Governor Jay Inslee. Her five-year term of office continues through November 2018.

Ms. Heu-Weller is an attorney for Microsoft specializing in employment law. Previously, she served as an employment and labor lawyer with Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, and was a law clerk at the Washington State Supreme Court to the Honorable Mary Fairhurst. Ms. Heu-Weller has volunteered with Rainier Scholars, an educational pipeline program in Seattle and helped launch The Learning Seed, a non-profit foundation providing scholarships for high school and college students.

Vicki Orrico

Vicki Orrico was appointed to the BC Board of Trustees for a five-year term beginning October 1, 2007. She served as Chair in 2011-12 and Vice Chair in 2010-11 and was reappointed in October 2012.

Career Profile: Public policy consultant. Ms. Orrico has practiced law for over 20 years and has a broad background in municipal law, general business, real estate and regulatory matters. She currently serves on the Overlake Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees and the City of Bellevue Planning Commission. She is also on the Board of the Center for Women and Democracy, and is chair of their speakers’ forum on women’s issues called “Food for Thought”. She previously served as a board member of the Washington State Bar Association Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board (1997-2003); the Pacific Northwest Citizen Advocacy Panel for Improving IRS Service, Vice-Chair and Chair, Small Business Subcommittee (1999-2001); Women Business Owners, Member, Board of Directors, Chair, Speakers Bureau (member, 1997-2004).

Education Profile: B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison; J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School.

Stassney Obregon

Student Trustee

Stassney Obregon was appointed to the BC Board of Trustees in 2014. She is an active member of the Bellevue College Organization of Women Leaders, Rotaract, El Centro Latino and the Black Student Union. She previously served as the outreach coordinator for BC’s Sustainable Business Practice program.

She is pursuing her Arts & Sciences transfer degree planning to complete her degree in Oceanography.